


Taking a Chance

by mggislife2789



Category: Criminal Minds, Spencer Reid - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Love Confessions, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 21:09:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11044395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mggislife2789/pseuds/mggislife2789
Summary: Inspired by Dive by Ed Sheeran.Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or their original stories. This is only for fun. It's where my brain goes after the credits roll. No copyright intended. Better safe than sorry ;)





	Taking a Chance

“Just be careful, okay?” JJ said to Spencer. Heading down the elevator, JJ asked what her best friend what he was going to be doing for the weekend. While she loved her friend, Y/N, who she met in high school, she’d had the tendency to lead guys on - at least she did when JJ knew her well.

Spencer was one of her best friends, and she could see in his eyes that he had a thing for Y/N. Who wouldn’t? JJ thought. She was beautiful, intelligent, personable, kind - for the most part, she was everything a person could want. But when JJ knew her, she had the tendency to tease the boys. Spencer didn’t deserve that in general, but especially after all he’d been through. More than anything, JJ wanted to see him happy. 

Spencer seemed to raise his eyebrows at her concern. “Is there something I should know?” he asked. He’d told her he was going to stop by the bookstore Y/N owned on the way home. From what he could see, she was everything he wanted - everything he felt he needed after Maeve. JJ shook her head, saying that she wasn’t sure if the girl she knew in high school was the same person he knew now. She and JJ had only gotten back in touch after all. “I’ll be careful,” he reassured her as he walked to his car.

Maybe he’d just have to have an outright conversation with her. The old him, the naive one, probably wouldn’t bring up such a thing out of the blue, but he’d been spurned and burned too many times to allow it to happen again, at least if he could’ve done anything to stop it. 

In the months since she’d moved here, he found himself hanging on her every word. He could easily find himself diving into a relationship with her, but he also needed to make sure he did everything to protect himself.

—-

Her bookstore was everything he’d ever wanted in a bookstore. It was quiet, enclosed, everyone was respectful of the people around them (so they spoke in whispers) - basically Y/N fostered the perfect atmosphere for the book reader. Friday night was her only slow night, which is why Spencer tended to visit on that day. 

As he walked in, he was blown back by her smile. It was cheesy, but he could’ve drowned in it. He thought back to their previous conversations wondering if he’d been a little too forward, but more in the shaky, nervous kind of way than the confident way. “Hey, Spencer,” she said, as she rearranged a particular bookshelf for the third time that day. “How was work?”

“Today was pretty boring actually,” he laughed softly. “A lot of paperwork.”

Y/N swallowed her hesitance, moving toward Spencer and brushing against his hand. “Umm, Spencer, I feel like we’ve been dancing around this for weeks. It could be just me, but…would you want to go out some time? Like not just visit me at work?” This was it. Spencer’s perfect in to ask her what her intentions were when it came to romance. It would be awkward to bring up, but he had to know.

“Can I ask you a question first?” he asked with a hesitant smile. A flash of confusion warped across her features, but she nodded. “When it comes to relationship or dating or whatever, what do you want at this point in your life? I only ask because I’ve been through a lot lately, both romantically and in the context of my job. I know what I’m looking for, and I don’t want to take a chance on someone if I know they don’t want the same things as me.” He also didn’t want to tell her that JJ gave him a warning. JJ was the only person Y/N knew so far besides him, and although he knew JJ meant well, he also knew a sentiment like that could strain a relationship. 

She smiled softly, grabbing his hand and walking back toward the register, where she quickly rang up a customer that had been at the opposite end of the store for hours. “At this point in my life, I’m looking for someone I can commit to,” she said honestly. “I haven’t had a ton of relationships in my life. I’ve been more of a dater. JJ used to tell me I had a tendency to lead guys on.”

“Did you?” he asked with a smile. Even though she’d brought up JJ, Spencer still didn’t want to bring up the fact that she spoke to him. His curiosity got the best of him though - he did want to know.

Time was slipping closer and closer toward closing time, so as she explained her high school and early college days she cleaned up the store and but a mess of books back in their rightful places. “Well, as JJ would tell you, I wasn’t that girl that only dated the popular guys, the jocks and whatnot. I went on dates with jocks and goths and nerds and everyone in between. If the guy was genuine with me, like the nerds and goths tended to be, I didn’t lead them on. If I didn’t like them, I told them so nicely and said I wanted to be friends. I did lead on a couple of the jocks though because I honestly thought they just wanted to get into my pants, and one of them actually developed real feelings for me. I felt bad afterwards. I figured he just thought I was easy, because apparently everyone thought I was. JJ was one of the few people that knew I didn’t sleep with anyone in high school.”

In the midst her rambling, she’d cleaned the store in a matter of about 30 minutes. “But I’d like to think I’m not that person anymore. I’m very upfront with people now. That being said, I really like you, and would love to go out with you. Ball’s in your court now,” she laughed.

“Good to know,” he said, stepping into her bubble and pulling her in for a chaste kiss. “I’d like to be able to do more of that. Maybe after dinner? Tonight?” The store was going to close in another half hour, and he was starving. 

“I’d like that.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and rang up the final customer, deciding to close a few minutes earlier. “It’s a perk of being the boss. I’m not gonna get anyone else in tonight.”

As she pulled on her coat, he pulled her in for another kiss. “Can I ask you a question now?”

“Sure,” he replied.

“What’s gone on with you that’s had you so scared about relationships?” He didn’t really think he was scared, but when he thought about it for more than a few seconds, he figured maybe he had been. “You just don’t seem like the type to be super upfront like that, which don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it because it cuts out all the bullshit, I just never expected in from you.”

Spencer hesitated, as he wasn’t sure what JJ had told Y/N or whether he wanted to divulge his entire past. “Well, I was made fun of a lot in high school. I won’t go into the details now, but it was horribly embarrassing. And more recently, I fell in love.”

“Who was she?” she asked. “And what happened to her?” Her heart immediately broke for him. She could see that he loved this woman and something horrible had ripped her away from him.

Once they were at the restaurant and seated, he continued, telling her all about Maeve, how they met, and how she’d been shot before his eyes. “Oh my god, Spencer, I’m so sorry.” Her eyes watered as he told the tale. To have to watch someone you loved being taken away like that? It was basically the most horrible thing she could imagine.

“Thanks…anyway, so that’s why I wanted to make sure you were looking for a relationship. I think I could really come to love you, but I don’t want you to tell me things and then not be in it for the long haul, you know? I don’t think I can handle that. Your the first person I’ve ever connected with in person, and the first person I’ve been interested in since everything happened.” She reached across the table, caressing the top of his hand with her own.

“I get it,” she said softly, the corners of he mouth wavering between a smile and a frown. “At this point, I want something long term, so I promise you…I mean what I say.”


End file.
